Czech Republic Sees No Grounds to Resume Intergovernmental Consultations with Slovakia Over PM Fico’s Talks with Russia

There are neither conditions nor reasons to resume Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has said, Ceske Noviny reports.

The main reason for this is the current foreign policy activities of the Slovak government led by Robert Fico and its negotiations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

‘I think that in this situation and given Slovakia's foreign policy activities, this format would not be appropriate. I don't see any reasons or conditions for this yet,’ Fiala said when asked about the possibility of resuming intergovernmental consultations a year after they were frozen.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced the suspension of Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations last year, shortly after a meeting between the Slovak and Russian foreign ministers.

Fiala said that the prime ministers and ministers of both countries are holding talks on a bilateral basis, and he is due to meet Fico on the sidelines of EU talks in Brussels on Monday.

Earlier, Fiala had repeatedly dismissed Fico's accusations that the Czech political and media scene interferes in Slovakia's internal political affairs as ‘completely inappropriate and wrong’.

‘I do not interfere in the internal affairs of Slovakia, nor do any of my colleagues,’ the Czech prime minister said. 

Fiala noted that, unlike former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, he did not recommend anyone in Slovakia who to vote for.

At the same time, the prime minister stressed that he has the right to comment on the Slovak government's foreign policy, which could threaten Czech interests.

‘I hear more criticism of Brussels than criticism of Moscow, which seems strange to me,’ Fiala said when asked whether he considered Fico a pro-Russian politician.

According to the Czech prime minister, the Slovak prime minister has a foreign policy idea ‘that does not meet our interests, security, strategic, economic’. 

Earlier, Fico accused Czech politicians of interfering in Slovak affairs. He said that the purpose of the attacks on him, which are spreading in the Czech Republic, is to defame former Prime Minister and ANO leader Andrej Babiš. This movement is leading in polls ahead of the parliamentary elections to be held in autumn.